Keller @ Large: Gov. Charlie Baker On Transgender Bill, State Economy
BOSTON (CBS) -- Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker sat down with WBZ political analyst Jon Keller last week to talk about a range of topics, from the transgender bill passed in the Massachusetts House to the Green Line Extension project to the proposed "millionaire tax."
First, the two discussed the bill guaranteeing transgender people equal access to public facilities. Baker said earlier in the week that he would sign the House's version of the bill.
Keller brought up the fact that Gov. Baker did not support transgender legislation in 2011. Baker says the previous legislation did not ensure proper protections against people who might take advantage of the new legislation for improper reasons--but that the new legislation did.
"We should be publicly accommodating," said Gov. Baker, on his support for the current bill. "We shouldn't discriminate against people."
When Keller suggested that the Green Line Extension project was reigned in because there wasn't enough revenue to pay for it, Gov. Baker said that it was adjusted because it had run wildly over the originally proposed budget.
"We pulled back on the Green Line extension because the original proposal for that, which started at around $950 million ballooned to about $3 billion dollars as a projection shortly after we took office," said Gov. Baker. "We basically said we are not going to support a $3 billion project, period."
Baker also reaffirmed his stance against the proposed graduated income tax that many have referred to as a "millionaire tax."
"I made a no new taxes pledge when I ran, and I said I wasn't going to raise taxes, and I meant it," said Baker. "I don't think we should raise taxes, Jon."
Baker and Keller also discussed the recent murder of Auburn Police Officer Ronald Tarantino and the investigation into why his killer, Jorge Zambrano, was walking free.
You can listen to Keller At Large on WBZ News Radio every weekday at 7:55 a.m. You can also watch Jon on WBZ-TV News.
